On a night when Elton Brand played one of the best games of his professional career[1] against an undersized Hornets' zone, the Clippers - one of the better defensive rebounding teams in the league - lost the most important game of the season due to their fundamental inability to put bodies on a much smaller NOOCH team.

Ready to assign blame? Here are the three offensive boards that won it for NOOCH in overtime:

[OT, 2:29] There never should've been a rebound because the Clippers, completely disoriented while setting up their defense, leave Devin Brown all alone at the top of the arc for a wide open 3PA. Best as I can see, Elton decides to drop off David West to double Chris Paul as he penetrates. Corey picks up West at the top of the circle, but who's taking Brown on the perimeter? Mobley can't leave Bobby Jackson in the left corner.

At any rate, Brown misses the 3PA, but upon the release, West darts down the lane untouched by Maggette who's watching the shot. Had the ball gone to the other side, Jackson was completely unchecked by Kaman. West lays it up and in to give NOOCH a three point lead.

There were so many breakdowns on this defensive segment by the Clips that one way or another, NOOCH was going to come away with points.

[OT, 1:10] The Hornets run a high S/R way up top for Paul. He splits the defenders, then kicks it out to Jackson on the weak side for a 3PA. Mobley closes nicely. West again was set up way up high and, again, he comes barreling down the lane unhindered. It was entirely Chris Kaman's responsibility.

Hornets by seven.

[OT, 0:36] Up five and inside a minute, NOOCH milks the shot clock down and ends up with a contested, double-teamed 3PA at :01 by Jackson. The rebound bounces left. Tim Thomas was patrolling the weak side glass, but is oblivious to Chris Paul's presence just behind him. Paul snatches the ball, and Brand has to foul.

With Tyson Chandler on the bench for NOOCH, tonight should've been the Lakers game redux, with Kaman and Brand pounding the Hornets in the post. To compensate for their lack of size, NOOCH went with a zone for long stretches. For the most part, the Clippers tried to take advantage of the disparity, and you saw the best results in the fourth quarter when Elton took the game over. With 20:4 seconds remaining in regulation, trailing by two, the Clippers faced their biggest possession of the season. Here's how it went down:

Hart gets the ball to Mobley way out on the left arc. Elton is fighting for position against West just in front of Cat. The entry pass goes into EB with about :14.5 remaining. Brand looks for Mobley, who has just gotten a man-sized pick from Kaman, up top, but Jackson has recovered. Instead, the second West makes a half-hearted reach for the ball, Elton charges his right-handed dribble into the lane and goes in for a driving slam.

With :09.5 the game is tied.

After a bizarre sequence in which Jess Kersey whistles Jason Hart for a quick foul the instant NOOCH inbounds the ball[2], the Clippers get the ball back down two for their second consecutive biggest possession of the season:

With no timeouts remaining, Hart races it up for the Clips. He gets it across at about :06, then quickly slings it over to Maggette on the left arc. Maggette dishes it off to Brand at his favorite spot. EB launches it over West for two, and ties the game with a second remaining.

I didn't get a chance to blog the Dallas game, but watching the first half I had one of those sports fan communion moments watching Elton work in the halfcourt with about 7:00 remaining in the first:

Elton has it out on the left wing for a 17-footer against Diop. He's sizing up the shot. It's not a bad one, probably around 50%, but Elton recognizes that, if can give the ball up, then re-post, he can probably have a measurably easier shot. Whatever risk is assumed in passing out to Hart and getting the ball back is more than compensated by the upside of getting the higher percentage shot. Anyway, Elton gets it back out to Jason Hart, who delivers another entry pass to EB - this one at closer range. EB takes the patented faceup shot from about 12 feet instead of 17, and it's good.

I don't expect that kind off basketball to inspire widespread approbation and huge endorsement dollars. Cerebral play and judiciousness aren't things that the public really wants in its power forwards, even if these qualities won Tim Duncan multiple rings. But Elton's shrewdness in the halfcourt is still admirable and, as an asset, has been one of the most important factors in turning this franchise around. Tonight's loss hurt because of its larger implications for the Clips' playoff hopes, but I was most disappointed for Elton because he deserved this one.

Here's what we're looking at:

Clippers (37-40)

Nellyball (38-40)

At Lakers

At Sacramento

Portland

Minnesota

Sacramento

Dallas

At Phoenix

At Portland

NOOCH

The Clippers clinch the tiebreaker with one more victory against a Pacific Division opponent.[3] Figure Golden State goes 3-1 against three teams eliminated from the postseason and another team that's coasting to the (1) seed. That would mean the Clips need to go 4-1 - win all three at home and steal either the Lakers game or hope that PHX will be phoning it in with the (2) seed locked up by next Tuesday.

[1] For all of Elton's talent and menschkeit, he's always had a rap as a guy who can't take over a game down the stretch in the manner befitting an NBA superstar. Tonight, Elton wasn't flawless, but he controlled the game in its crucial minutes when the season was on the line.

[2] Mike Smith contends that Kersey though the Clips had a foul to give and assumed that Hart was using it. According to Smith, Kersey even pointed to the sideline, indicating a non-shooting foul before he realized that NOOCH was in the bonus.

[3] If the Clips don't win another game against divisional opponent, then they won't have to worry about tiebreakers, natch.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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Don’t look now but front row, court side seats have a face value of $300 this season, next season its reported that amount will be multiplied by 5 for a whopping $1,500 a game. I guess these upgrades come at a hefty price. Are they worth it though? Do Clippers fans want the glitz and glamor of new web sites, enhanced game time energy, and entertainment? Or have you been a Clipper fan for years, and been with your team win/lose/tie because you’re a fan of basketball, and the under dog? I fear that the Clippers will soon fall in to the cookie cutter formula for a pro sports team, and the sanctity of the Clipper Nation will be compromised in the process. Let me know what you think.

Another 3rd quarter collapse let yet another opposing team back into a game. I was still pretty confident up until yesterday that the Clips would still make the playoffs...now I have a sinking feeling that the Clippers season for 2007 will go out with a wimper next week. At least we still have Minny's pick to possibly look forward too

If we don't invest in better players & personnels, our team will remain the same old lottery bound team. It's too late to make a U-turn. Market will set the value of Clipper ticket prices. It's about raising the bar in all areas of Basketball operation.

Investing in website upgrade is not a luxury. Finally we have it. Let's say thank you to all involved.

The lack of focus is just amazing. When Kama decided for participate for about 8 minutes in the fourth, we were dominating. Then he ADDs on us. What the Falk?

Anyways, if we can't beat the Hornets without Peja and Chandler we got no business in the playoffs.

Good news is the Corey situation has improved. He has proven his worth which means that if he doesn't want to be here then at least his trade value increased. And if (I hope) he wants to be here he has shown MDsr he's for real!

Disappointed but leaving for vaca tomorrow, hoping to return and see a miracle (either Nelly choked, the Lakers collapesed) or better yet, the Clips pulled themselves out of this hole..

Clipper Warrior,
as of now, Minnesota is in a 5 way tie for the 7th worst record, and as seeing they have mailed in their season (which won't help us when they play denver), they probably will be in the top 10 in the lottery, which means the Clippers don't get their pick because it is top 10 protected.

Rob,
Clipper front row courtside tickets cost more than $300 a game, they are at $750 for now, and yes, they are going up.

All else,
Dunleavy has been outcoached by every coach in the league, as evident by his 3rd quarter collapses and inability to motivate the guys. If we keep him around, which we are going to have to against better judgement, we're going to end up like Milwaukee which he ruined.
Too bad we gave Kaman and Dunleavy extensions last year that don't kick in until next year. I'm pretty sure Elgin would've rethought those two singings.

Some of us did not buy the hype when they were beating the Milwaukees of the world that suddenly they had "turned the corner." This is exactly the kind of team that can win 8 of 10 and follow it up with two pathetic losses sandwiched around a predictable loss to Dallas. They don't belong in the playoffs and they won't be there, as a few of us have known for a long time...

I want to take issue. In my opinion, Dunleavy had one of his best coaching nights of the year. He decided to stay with his bigs and trap a smaller NOOCH team whenever and wherever they got the ball. He set forth a smart gameplan that was executed for about 36 minutes. I didn't see one thing I would've changed about the overall strategy. While I don't think he deserves congratulations, per se, when your shooting guard goes 4-15 from the field, I don't think that's something you can lay on the coach.

NOOKC- has the most difficult games left and the worst record!!
Warriors-Has the easiest schedule but a flaky Barron Davis.
Clippers- Have 1 more games and can't lose one divisional or it is over.

We have to bring the heat no gimpy TT favoring the sprained wrist or Cat choking we when need it the most. EB cannot do it himself. Sam get a shot of cortazone!!!

In the 3rd and 4th last night (other then the energy of Caveman)the team looked flat. All though I feel the over time was lost due to the missed call on Cat's shot in the key that should of been a foul and the dam ref throwing a body blow on Maggette battling for that loose ball. That was 4 pts right there to NO when it should of been 2 free throws to CAT. EFFFF That.....it is not over yet!!!!!!!!!!!

tb, excellent point about corey's trade value. if the clips make the playoffs, there's a chance corey stays. but as it looks now, i don't think his relationship w/ MDSr has been repaired. i expect corey gone by next year.

minny's been tanking for a couple of weeks now. everyone (yes, even KG) has mailed it in except ricky davis. minny plays the 4Q like the clips play the 3Q - thumbs up their collective asses. when's mark madsen going to start launching 3pters again? we're only going to have our own lottery pick this year, unfortunately.

we still control our own destiny, believe it or not. win out, and we're in. but after pissing away the Den and NOk games, this fan isn't holding out much hope. it just sucks that i'll have to put up w/ the laker fans' taunts tomorrow w/o ammunition to fight back. sigh.

i waited until the last day to renew for 07-08 (it would have been a no-brainer if not for shaun's injury), the day after we beat the lakers. the playoffs seemed like a lock, we even had our sights set on the 6-7 seeds. 3 straight losses later, including 2 heartbreakers, i'm feeling just a bit cheated.

Despite the likely shortlived season, I have no problem buying season tix next year. The thing that pisses me off are the pre-season tickets. Who in their right mind wants those lousy games?

Everyone who buys season tix, make some noise about it. Make the sales force sweat a little over stuffing worthless tickets down loyal season ticket holders throats, What kind of Fan Appreciation Event is that?

Send the team out to play warmup games in the desert at the local YMCA, wherever, just don't make us season ticket holders pay full price tickets for half-ass games...

Supac & tb,
Not sure Maggette is going anywhere now. If Shaun were coming back and Sam was not 62 years old, then CM would be packing his bags. But now a look in the near future sees Mags as a full time starter. MDS has had the last year and a half to experiment with the whole "Q-Ross as a starter" idea, and I think he is done with that. Regardless if the Clip-show runs the table and makes the "offs", I think Mags is around for a while....unless of course they can pull off some crazy sign and trade deal for Chauncey Billups...then everything would change..

tb,
I also renewed my tix without hesitation....and I also dont understand why we have to buy pre-season games. I am calling my rep today to complain.

There is no point in complaining about Dunleavy being our coach .The fact is that he's here to stay...period. All we can hope for is some tweaks to the roster for next season. DTS is not going to break his contract and let him walk away with his money. We need to stop blaming the coach and point the blame soley where it lies...on the players to play like professionals .

i've already complained about pre-season tix. sales rep said that's just the way it is. then he offered me more free preseason tix, go figure. he's a great guy tho, and gives me a lot of freebies/extras.

Do the Mavs want to play Warriors or Clips? They may feel Clips would be an easier series and play starters against Warriors. Will be interesting to see. That's about the only hope (unless Lakers completely tank), and not clear that that's enough.

Congratulations Corey, looks like you've finally "earned" more playing time than that legendary player that teams all around the league have been lining up to trade for over the last two years.........the one, the only....

04/11/08 20:31:58

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